Indiana native Justin Gillete won the St. Jude Memphis Marathon on December 1, 2012 in Memphis, Tennessee with a time of 2:35:13.

Justin is member RIF #153 of Run It Fast – The Club, and we had a chance to ask him about his preparation leading up to and victory in Memphis:

“Memphis has always been on my list of races that I would like to experience winning because the race is for a great cause. Since I am a more popular runner than some, I always feel that winning a race that is for such a good cause gives that race a little more publicity.

I entered the marathon several months ago, and briefly considered withdrawing as I had to miss 11 days running in the 3 weeks prior to the marathon due to poison ivy and an injury while cutting wood.

Overall I didnt run as fast as normal but that doesnt diminish the value of winning such a great event.

Prior to the race starting I was not allowed into the elite athlete pre race suite, I used that as motivation during the race.”

It was the 55th marathon win in Justin’s running career. Truly an amazing accomplishment.

Gillette was able to hold off Cookeville’s (TN) Brian Shelton who finished close behind in 2:37:43. Third place went to Greg Lemmon, from Cincinnati, with a time of 2:39:16. It should be noted that Matthew Thomas, from Alexandria, Virginia, was a very close 4th place in 2:39:24.

What an exciting and close field of runners that finished atop the field down in Memphis.

On the women’s side the win went to Angie Zinkus, from Eads, Tennessee, who finished with a time of 2:55:39. Her finish was fast enough to be 16th overall.

Second place female went to Laura Blaylock, from New Orleans, in 3:02:21 with third place female going to Floridian Carrie Pustilnik (3:08:15).

Justin Gillette won the 2012 Lost Dutchman Marathon on Sunday (February 19, 2012) in Apache Junction, Arizona with a winning time of 2:31:03.

The Indiana native beat out second place finisher Tom Lipsie by over 9 minutes. Lipsie finished in 2:40:26. Third place went to O’Canada’s Ken Myers in 2:41:41.

Top 10 Male Lost Dutchman Marathon Finishers

Justin Gillette – 2:31:03

Tom Lipsie – 2:40:26

Ken Myers – 2:41:41

Boone Ebel – 2:45:51

Stephen Anders0n – 2:49:58

Matthew Brake – 2:54:16

Gary Krugger – 2:54:49

Cliff Richards – 2:56:41

Brian Zacher – 2:58:17

Steve Dirkse – 2:58:39

Olympic Marathon Trials marathoner Leah Thorvilson easily won the Lost Dutchman Marathon winning by nearly 30 minutes with a time of 2:47:15. Leah finished 5th overall. She ran so fast that rumor has quickly circulated that she DID FIND the Dutchman.

Second place went to Traci Falbo in 3:14:23 with third place going to Brittany Orkney in 3:17:04.